“Oh, your sister is now almost literal Hitler, a traitor to surpass Benedict Arnold who’s ordering around weapons that have taken the lives of millions, but no judgment, that’s not going to count against you!” The fake smile now openly soured. “Who else is going to understand, if our superiors won’t?” She put on an exaggerated falsetto at the same time as her face shaped into an equally plastic smile. “Who else can I tell?” Yorktown's face and voice reflected her naked frustration. Eventually, Ayaka asked, “Why are you telling me all this?” There was a long pause, during which the two of them just looked at each other in awkward silence. Surely anyone can be preferable to me.”Īyaka’s lips twitched as she fought back a frown and deigned to comment, but instead made “go on” gestures. “Maybe what he meant was that there’s no one qualified to replace you.” I checked with NPC and we’re definitely not that shorthanded.”Īyaka thought it over. “He said there wasn’t anyone that could be parachuted in to replace me. Aren't you supposed to recuse yourself when there's a conflict of interest?" Under these, the thought didn't cross her mind. Granted, their staying liberated was now in doubt. Under normal circumstances, Ayaka would have objected to the use of the term "failure", given that TFV had managed the liberation of Borneo, east coast Peninsular Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore before Enterprise had intervened. Not after the failure of the Southeast Asian campaign.” “I told Captain Zelben that I was no longer qualified to lead Uatu, much less TFVPP operations. Of all the things Ayaka had been expecting to hear, that was very far from the top of the list. There was the brief, barely-audible whine of an anti-snooping ward activating, and when she returned to her seat, her face sagged with guilt no longer hidden. Ayaka had no idea what to make of Yorktown of all people being indecisive and tongue-tied.Īfter an uncharacteristically prolonged period of silence, Yorktown got up, hung a Do Not Disturb sign on the office door and closed it. Yorktown didn’t immediately continue, though her face twitched in ways that suggested she was trying and failing to find the right words. Then the implications hit Ayaka, and she grimaced, glad that she hadn't encountered the older battleship on her way in. "Before I say anything else, you need to know that the singing to West Virginia has been discontinued." I believe Captain Zelben told you that there are some things I need to go over with you?” “Abyssal activity has been returning to normal, even if we haven’t seen any Jötnar since the last attack, so it’s good timing. It’s good to see that your repairs have been completed.” It tingled faintly with the remnant supernal traces of something disarmed. Yorktown's beret, hanging from the old rack like the last time, had gained a pair of blue feathers, though, and a crumpled abyssal pamphlet that said "Humanity needs your country. The room in question had not changed noticeably since Ayaka had last seen it and was still as Spartan as before. Yorktown's gaze lingered on the scar for a few moments more before she turned to walk back to her office. Before she could apologise for it, though, she noticed Yorktown was staring right back at the scar splitting her face. Most noticeable of all, though, was the strikingly abyssal-like way glowing blue smoke came out of her left eye.Īfter a while, Ayaka realised she was staring. She was now wearing black pantyhose and her boots were now white with grey tongues. Speaking of said skirt, it was now white with blue trim. There was a two-buckled belt at the bottom of her blouse, while another belt with two X-marked blue discs for buckles held up her miniskirt. The hiding of previously-displayed cleavage clearly wasn’t out of decency concerns if the new Shimakazesque protruding straps of black highleg panties were any indication. A piece of grey cloth modelled after her original flight deck went down the centre of her front, over the blouse but under the scarf. She now had a high-collared blue capelet over her original sleeveless sailor blouse. "Most of the amalgam have." Her Y-shaped barrette was no longer present. Trying to buy time to think of something, she asked, “You got your remodel?” “Io-Aya-Shirokaze, a word?”Īyaka blinked dumbly at the other shipgirl consciously using her human rather than ship name. Yorktown was waiting outside CAPT Zelben's office door after Ayaka finished meeting with him the first day of her return to active duty.
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